I’ve been to a lot of Red Square Victory Day parades. This year’s version had a completely different vibe. In the past, in order to get a good location in the press area at the side of the plaza, I had to run from the media bus that usually pulls up beside St. Basils’ Cathedral. This year, there was no need to run. The number of journalists present at the occasion was significantly lower. Access had been denied to numerous international media outlets.
A Russian TV team approached me and began filming as soon as I was positioned on Red Square.
The reporter grinned, “Steve, you’re proof that foreign media have been allowed in. Not really,” I answered. “No one else is visible to me. But I was happy to be there. to observe Victory Parade 2026 firsthand.
There were fewer international leaders who had flown in for the show, fewer media, and fewer spectators. But once the parade started, the largest difference became apparent.
Tanks, rocket launchers, and intercontinental ballistic missiles—all of the military equipment that the Kremlin typically displays on Victory Day to demonstrate Russian military might abroad were not on exhibit.
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